Meeting the Family

I can't speak for every one on here but I have experienced enjoyment interacting with you. And many other people on here too.

There is much to be said for community in times of hardship and pain.

And it's also nice to discuss the internal workings of Avoidance and human relating in general.

I can see sometimes there are still triggers and wounds which trouble you. But I think you deserve credit for the progress you are making. And as much as is possible to feel for a random stranger on the internet, I feel proud that your relationship is going so well right now.

Regarding your previous post. A Calatina 30 is a fine boat!
Plenty of room for 2 people. The great lakes region is often my cruising ground. So it's plausible we might pass each other at some point without ever knowing. I'll think of that whenever I come across one.

If you want to discuss how to sail I will happily give you some pointers if you PM me. There's also a LOT of terminology to learn.
And If you feel the need to impress your partner by showing up one day sounding like you know it all, I would happily share my knowledge lol.

.....Or piss into the wind 😁

Things have gone great. We worked on the boat all day yesterday, he got the engine going and now she's in the water with the mast up. We are going to tow to her new home marina, and continue preparing her to sail.
No sailing this weekend.... but it won't be long! Exciting!

Awesome! I enjoy sailing as well, though I don't know too much about it and don't have regular access to a boat. But if I had a partner who did, that would be so fun (upkeep and maintenance aside lol)! And a great activity for social distancing times, too.

I'm glad it's going well!!

Thanks guys!!! What a great weekend. I spent a whole day alone with his mom and loved every minute of it. We are very compatible! We laughed, shared stories and were able to have some great conversations about many different things. I felt very comfortable with her, and really appreciate her personality. So that was really neat. My boyfriend of course was made happy by seeing how we got on. So, we all had a great weekend together.

It's so cool to find out how many people have sailing experiences, now that I'm learning about it. I'm in the sailing community now!😃. We had the excellent fortune of making a new friend who offered to sail with us and teach us all about it. He's got a lot of experience and can take us in hard conditions too, when we are ready. It's going to be a lot of exciting fun. We will go out again in October to take the boat out on the lake and then prepare her for winter. I look forward to seeing his mom again, too.

So, the weekend was a success.

krolle- what kind of boat do you have? Do you ever race, or just cruise?
Just curious about your marine life too!

I believe you that your racing club is full of kind hearted people. We ran into a snag looking for parts, and we were in a real pinch, crushed for time to get to port and fly back home! While he was working on it I found the social media group and asked to join... and posted a query. We got a tremendous response with help and advise, and one man even met us at port to work with my boyfriend on the boat. So much more efficient with two engine guys, instead of an engine guy and me lol. It was beautiful to watch the two of them working together as if they had been friends for years. My boyfriend is going out every two weeks until we pull her out of the water to check the sails and rigging, do all the small upgrades and repairs, and hopefully take her out. Our new friend is going to meet him and partner in the work, just because he loves sailing and wants to help a fellow sailor.

I don't think we will race as we will be leaving home to visit and sail. But we may eventually crew for our new friend who also enjoys racing a 25. It seems like a blast!!! We are not interested in the fancy shmancy aspect either, and are very down to earth and casual people. This man whom we met is as well- so we do feel we have found a fit there.

Ive ordered some ASA books to read, and I'm looking forward to curling up over winter with them! I am excited for this new adventure. Except for being asked if I want to climb the mast haha. We just ordered a bosun's chair and I'm going to see what it's like next time I go out. Yikes! 😬😃

My boyfriend mentioned the far-off possibility of crossing an ocean someday and that's way more than I feel an inclination to do, ever haha. I know that people cruise the coast in boats the size of ours, and eventually we will head down the coast but perhaps in a little bigger boat. For now, sailing in the Great Lakes area is absolutely enough!! We are in Lake St. Claire, as his mother lives nearby and it makes visits to her/sailing a fun, easy combo.

I never thought I would become a sailor, but here I am, about to become a sailor. Life is wonderful and full of surprises. I've also received some hard news just recently and it's sometimes hard to allow myself to have fun or be adventurous when dealing with a serious problem, or feeling heavy emotions. My goal is to keep balance and continue to live while under stress, if you know what I mean. I tend to dial everything back and make my focus narrow, pull close to home and hunker down so to speak when under stress. But I am going to try a new way of allowing pain and pleasure to co-exist, accepting both as a part of my life that don't cancel each other out.

Very happy that you sail, and that you have a group to socialize with and have camaraderie. How awesome.